Wellness programs continue to be a hot topic in the employee benefit industry, but some are skeptical of their true impact on cost reduction. In response, some employers are looking to wellness coaches to potentially boost participation and increase savings for health plans. 

Craft Hayes, an advisor for Bernard Health of Nashville, Tenn., says that while roughly one-third of his employer clients express interest in a wellness program, actual employee participation is lackluster at best. "When they make it voluntary, there is pretty low enrollment," says Hayes. The reason is usually a lack of incentive. Employers want to offer these programs but employees don't see a reduction in their insurance premiums, so they're not interested, according to Hayes. 

Coaching could change that, he says. "For the older members of the workforce, one-on-one coaching could have a huge advantage," says Hayes. While not every wellness program offers coaching, the majority of the programs offered by Haye's advisory firm have a personal coaching element. "They are effective in being able to track and follow up with older workers and report improvements in health claims and improved health conditions. 

The most successful wellness coaches, according to Bush, are the ones who take a fresh approach to their mission. "It's about more than saying, 'Here's a flier about diabetes and weight loss.' It's about meeting people where they're at and understanding the stressors they have in their life and what is causing the struggles related to their health and medical claims," she says. The wellness coach will ask how they can help mitigate those problems with new strategies, says Bush. "Whether that is financial wellness or understanding how your diet impacts glucose levels in your blood and what they mean for weight gain or your inability to lose weight," she says. Coach or no coach, it's not always possible to save a company or employees money through a wellness plan, one adviser points out. 

"We thing that wellness should be offered because it's the right things to do rather than having a direct correlation with healthcare costs," says Jason Seltzer of J. Seltzer Associates. "Most of our clients feel the same way and while many clients have implemented some plans, like smoking cessation and step challenges, when it comes to comprehensive wellness, not so much."